Chapter Seven: Training in the Land of Poverty and Beasts
The sea was as still as an open grave, and the night melted into the ashes of dawn.
The waves exhaled softly, but a storm lurked in their depths.
After a grueling escape from the auction island, Adam rowed the stolen boat, his silent eyes fixed on the horizon.
Gyro kept glancing back, as if expecting a hand from the fog to seize them.
Adam stared at the leather map he had taken from a dead merchant, tracing the lines of seas and islands.
He knew they had to pass "Maibo Island" before reaching the Kingdom of War—but this island was deliberately chosen. It was a station on the path of transformation.
Inside him stirred a new sensation—a strange hunger and emptiness, not of the body, but of the soul.
Since consuming the Devil Fruit, the world appeared sharper—every detail more vivid, every sound hiding a message.
Yet unease pressed on his chest.
He hadn't tested the fruit's powers yet.
He knew the sea was a sworn enemy of Devil Fruit users, and any recklessness could drown both him and Gyro.
He resisted the urge, holding back everything until they reached solid ground.
At dawn's first light, the gray island appeared in the distance.
Houses of splintered wood, roofs with holes, and air thick with salt and rotting fish.
Adam jumped off the boat first, his long hair clinging to his shoulders from sea spray, his cloak fluttering like an ancient shadow.
He looked at Gyro, who hesitated, then grabbed him by the collar:
— "Don't look down. Around here, weakness is a disgrace."
They crossed a crooked bridge over shallow, polluted water.
In the market, one-eyed fishermen sold dead crabs, children sold grimy salt, and a woman with a rusty knife yelled:
"Fish of the day! Half of it's still soft!"
Gyro tried covering his nose, but Adam snapped at him:
— "Smell it. This is your life if you don't change."
They entered a tavern lit by dull yellow light, casting long shadows on the walls.
On the wall hung a map of the world, with a coiling red line:
"Those without power are devoured by the center."
Adam stood before the map, eyes glowing like a sage who had seen much, yet still searched for more.
Within, he heard the whispers of the fruit—a craving to test, to consume, to push his limits.
But he knew: not yet.
(At sea, mistakes mean death. No recklessness. Everything waits for solid ground.)
He sat at a distant table, bought a map from a bald man, squeezed his hand tight until the man gave in and handed over a clear chart of islands and currents.
He left the coins behind and exited, Gyro following warily.
Outside, Adam looked up at the gray sky, then toward the distant forest behind the village:
— "This island isn't just a village. It has dense forests and abandoned hills. The people here fear them."
Gyro swallowed hard:
— "Why?"
Adam didn't smile. His voice was cold as death:
— "Because they eat people. And we'll let them eat us… and give us their strength."
He snatched a loaf of bread from a vendor, tossed it to Gyro:
— "Carry it. In places like this, if you pay, they'll steal your heart first."
Back at the old boat, Adam spread the map on his knee, pointing to a winding green path:
— "Here. Inner forests. Rocky hills. We go deeper. The more this land chokes us, the harder we become."
They sat together on the cold ground, wind lashing their faces.
Adam, in a low voice, eyes gleaming in the dark, surrounded by a faint violet aura:
— "Sleep tonight, Gyro. Tomorrow, we leave this stench behind… and enter the island's heart."
Gyro trembled:
— "Master… I'm scared."
Adam placed a firm hand on the boy's shoulder, his voice deep and reassuring:
— "Fear means you're alive. Tomorrow, we make that fear serve us."
He tapped Gyro's chest gently:
— "Prepare your heart. Tomorrow, true training begins. And there… I'll test everything this new power can do."
In Adam's eyes, the forest reflected back—a gatew
ay to another world… one of beasts, strength, and trial.
End of Chapter 7